Yarn guide means for warp knitting machines



Nov. 9, 1965 E. T. KOZLOWSK! ETAL 3,216,231

YARN GUIDE MEANS FOR WARP .KNITTING MACHINES Filed Aug. 16, 1962 FLE- E FL E FLE E INVENTORS. [ou/aro T Koz/ows/(i C/ark 7.' M/Y/er ATTORNEY.

United States Patent 3,216,221 YARN GUIDE MEANS FOR WARP KNITTING MACHINES Edward T. Kozlowski, Reading, and Clark T. Miller, Centerport, Pa., assignors to Textile Machine Works, Wyornissing, Pan, a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Aug. 16, 1962, Ser. No. 217,421 3 Claims. (Cl. 6686) This invention relates to warp knitting machines and more particularly to guide means for feeding yarns to the needles of such machines.

In straight-bar warp knitting machines the warp yarns are fed to a straight row of needles through guides which are carried on guide bars mounted in closely spaced side-by-side relation in the machine for both transverse movement through the needle row and shifting movements longitudinally of the needle row. Commonly, there may be as many as twenty-four guide bars in the machine with certain of the guide bars having a guide arrangement for feeding a yarn to each needle of the machine to form the body fabric and the remaining bars having individual guide members which are carried in fingers secured at spaced intervals along the length of the bars for inlaying individual design yarns in the body fabric. Heretofore, the individual guide members were each secured to a carrier or finger to form a unit and the unit in turn secured in adjusted position on its associated guide bar by screws or the like. When a guide member became damaged and unfit for use the entire unit was removed from the guide bar and discarded, even though the finger was undamaged, and the damaged unit then was replaced by a new unit. Such discarding and replacement of a damaged unit not only resulted in the loss of the original cost of the undamaged finger but also resulted in the loss of machine production due to the time required to remove and replace the damaged unit. This loss of time and production were further increased when it was also necessary to bodily remove the adjacent guide bars from the machine in order to reach and replace the damaged unit.

It is an object of the invention to provide means for overcoming the above mentioned and other difiiculties encountered in the replacement of worn and damaged yarn guides in warp knitting machines.

Another object of the invention is to provide a warp knitting machine with yarn guide means for feeding yarns to the needles including a finger which is adjustably secured to an operating member of the machine and a yarn guide member which is releasably attached to the finger in a manner to permit removal and replacement of the guide without disturbing the finger and other operating parts of the machine.

A further object is the provision of yarn guide means in a knitting machine which means includes a finger secured in fixed position in the machine and a yarn guide member mounted in the finger, the finger and guide member having cooperating means for releasably holding the yarn guide in working position in the finger.

A still further object is the provision of a replaceable yarn guide member for use in a warp knitting machine, the yarn guide member having a guide eye for the yarn at one end thereof and a shank portion at the other end adapted to be received in a finger secured in working position to an operating part of the machine, the shank portion of said guide member having a notch adapted to releasably receive a fiat flexible strap carried on the finger, the strap cooperating with the notch in the shank to accurately position and hold the yarn guide in working position in the finger.

With these and other objects in view, which will become apparent from the following detailed description of the illustrative embodiment of the invention shown in the accompanying drawings, the invention comprises the novel features of construction and cooperation of parts as hereinafter particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view taken transversely through the guide bars of a warp knitting machine having guide finger assemblies according to the instant invention applied thereto;

FIG. 2 is an elevational view as seen from the right of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view on an enlarged scale taken along the line and in the direction of the arrows 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view on an enlarged scale taken on the line and in the direction of the arrows 44 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a view on an enlarged scale of the yarn guide of the invention; and

FIG. 6 is a view of the yarn guide as seen from the right of FIG. 5.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 there is shown guide bars 10, 11 and 12 representative of the usual plurality of such guide bars which are commonly provided on warp knitting machines each of the bars having a plurality of similar yarn guide units 15 according to the instant invention for feeding individual yarns to spaced needles 16 of the machine to be knit or inlaid in fabric formed on the machine. Each of the guide units 15 comprises an arm or finger 17 which is secured in adjusted position on its bar by screws 20. At its lower end finger 17 has a groove 21 in which is releasably mounted a cylindrical shank portion 22 of a guide member 25. The lower end 26 of the guide member is provided with a guide eye 28 (FIGS. 1 and 6) through which the yarn is guided to the needles 16 and the lower end is flattened as indicated in FIG. 2 to permit it to pass between the needles to feed the yarn to the needles in a common manner. The shank 22 of the guide member 25 is provided with spaced transverse notches 27 each of which has a flat bottom surface 30 and shoulders 31 at opposite ends thereof. The notches are formed on one side of the shank and in a predetermined angular rela tionship to the flat sides of the flattened end 26 as indicated in FIGS. 5 and 6. The upper free end of the shank is also provided with a camming surface 34 which extends upwardly at an angle from the cylindrical surface of the shank at the opposite side thereof from notches 27.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4 the groove 21 is formed on one face 32 of the finger 17 and is contoured to fit the cylindrical outline of the shank 22 of the guide member. Adjacent its lower end, the face 32 of finger 17 has a transversely extending groove 35 (FIG. 3) adapted to receive a flat flexible metal strap 36, opposite ends 37 of the strap 36 being bent as indicated in FIG. 4 to engage angular surfaces 40 formed on the face of finger opposite to face 32 to anchor the strap to the finger. The strap 36 is substantially the same thickness as the depth of the notches 27 in the shank 22 of the guide member and is adapted to engage the flat surface 30 of one of the notches when the guide member is mounted in working position in the groove 21 of the finger (FIG. 4) to thereby prevent rotation of the guide member. The width of the strap 36 is also substantially the same as the width of the notches so that the strap closely fits the shoulders 31 at the ends of the notch in which it is engaged to prevent axial movement of the guide member in the groove 21 from its working position in the finger.

In order to remove the guide member 25 from the groove 21 of the finger 17 when it is worn or otherwise damaged, the guide member is manually rotated in the groove, the strap 36 at this time flexing slightly, until the cylindrical portion of the shank 22 is in engagement with the strap and the guide member is then withdrawn axially from the groove. To insert or mount a new guide member in working position in the finger, the guide member is turned so that notches 27 face the bottom of the groove and the guide member is then moved axially and upwardly in the groove, the angular camming surface 34 formed at the upper end of the shank 22 acting at this time to flex the strap 36 slightly to permit the shank to pass therebeneath. Thereafter when the notch 27 with which the strap is to be engaged is at the level of the strap, the guide member is rotated until the strap is seated in the notch and in engagement with the flat bottom surface 30 thereof.

As will be noted in FIG. 1 bars 10 and 11 are shown positioned at a higher level than bar 12. In order to maintain the lower ends and the guide eyes 28 of the guide members at substantially the same yarn feeding level the straps 36 on the fingers 17 secured to the higher positioned bars 10 and 11 are seated in the upper notches 27 formed in the shanks of the guide members while the straps on the fingers on the lower bar 12 are seated in the lower notches of the guide members.

The improvements specifically shown and described by which the above described results are obtained can be changed and modified in various ways without departing from the invention herein disclosed and hereinafter claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. A yarn guide unit for use on a warp knitting machine comprising a finger, a yarn guide member having a cylindrical shank portion at one end thereof, a flattened portion at the other end of said guide member, a guide eye on said flattened portion, a notch extending transversely of said shank portion and being positioned in said shank portion at 90 from the flat sides of said flattened portion, a groove in one face of said finger and extending upwardly from the lower end of said finger for receiving said shank portion of said guide member, and a flat flexible strap carried on said finger adjacent the lower end thereof, said strap extending transversely across said one face of said finger and adapted to be received in said notch in said shank portion to releasably maintain said guide member in said groove in said finger.

2. A yarn guide member for use on a warp knitting machine having a finger with a groove therein, said guide member having a cylindrical shank portion at one end thereof adapted to be inserted in said groove of said finger, a flattened portion at the other end of said guide member, a guide eye in said flattened portion, and a notch extending transversely of said shank portion and being positioned in said shank portion at 90 from the flat sides of said flattened portion, said notch in said shank portion being adapted to receive a flat flexible strap on said finger and overlying the groove therein when said shank portion is inserted into the groove to maintain said shank portion in said finger.

3. A yarn guide member according to claim 2 in which said notch is formed in said shank portion at one side of an axis extending lengthwise of said shank portion and there is a camming surface formed on said shank portion at the opposite side of said axis and extending from said opposite side toward said one side of said shank portion and toward the end of said shank portion remote from the flattened portion of said guide member, said camming surface cooperating with the flat flexible member of said finger to flex the flexible member and permit said shank portion of said guide member to be inserted in the groove of said finger.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,214,372 9/40 Held 66-126 2,759,344 8/56 Clark et al. 66-84 2,962,883 12/60 Dolinsky 6686 3,044,283 7/62 Liebchen 66-86 RUSSELL C. MADER, Primary Examiner. 

1. A YARN GUIDE UNIT FOR USE ON A WARP KNITTING MACHINE COMPRISING A FINGER, A YARN GUIDE MEMBER HAVING A CYLINDRICAL SHANK PORTION AT ONE END THEREOF, A FLATTENED PORTION AT THE OTHER END OF SAID GUIDE MEMBER, A GUIDE EYE ON SAID FLATTENED PORTION, A NOTCH EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY OF SAID SHANK PORTION AND BEING POSITIONED IN SAID SHANK PORTION AT 90* FROM THE FLAT SIDES OF SAID FLATTENED PORTION, A GROOVE IN ONE FACE OF SAID FINGER AND EXTENDING UPWARDLY FROM THE LOWER END OF SAID FINGER FOR RECEIVING SAID SHANK PORTION OF SAID GUIDE MEMBER, AND A FLAT FLEXIBLE STRAP CARRIED ON SAID FINGER ADJACENT THE LOWER END 